Can opener



Oct. 29, 1957 G. w. MARVIN 2,811,278

CAN OPENER Filed Feb. 6, 1956 United States. l-"ater1tffr()iy This invention relates to new Yand useful improvements in can openers, and in particular the invention concerns itself with an opener for cans and other similar containers having a lid or cover connected to their body portion by aperimetrically extending tear strip `or band.

.In conventional practice, a slotted key is usually'fur- .mshed with'such cans, the same being adapted to have oneend of the tear strip inserted in the slot thereof so'that when the key is rotated the strip is torn from the can and wound. around the key as the latter Atravels around the perimeter of the can to separate the lid or c-over from the main body portion.

'.The tear stripremoved from the can has very sharp edges and the operators fingers are frequently injured while holding and manipulating the'ke'y during winding of the strip thereon. Moreover, if the key is not firmly and properly held, the Vtearstrip winds unevenly and often-breaks before. the full length thereofis removed from the can, with the result that con'siderablejdiiculty is experienced in attempting -to complete the opening operation.

The principal object of this invention is to eliminate the above outlined disadvantages incident to the use of conventional openers, this being attained by the provision of meanswhereby once the end of the tear strip is engaged with a'rotatable spindle of the opener, the tear strip may be easily and eficiently .wound around the spindle without any danger of the operators fingers coming in contact with the sharp edges of the tear strip.

Anotherimportant object of the invention resides in the provision of means for easily and conveniently removing the wound tear strip from the spindlesothat the opener may be repeatedly employed on one canafter another, the removal of the wound tear strip from,4 the spindle also being effected without the necessity of touching the strip. i e

' Another. important object of the invention is to provide means for locking the spindle in the handle of the opener while the spindle is being rotated to wind the tear strip thereon, the locking means being readily releasable so that the spindle may be conveniently removed from the handle to permit simultaneous removal of the wound tear strip from the spindle.

In accordance with the invention, a split spindle is employed to receive the free end of the tear strip preparatory to winding, and another feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for preventing the split portion of the spindle from collapsing as well as for maintainingV the split in the spindle of a proper width in the event that the split portion has been accidentally squeezed together while the spindle was separate from the handle.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention resides in the arrangement of parts and details of construction substantially as shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts and wherein:

2,811,273 Patented Oct. 29, 1957 t Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the invention, also showing a portion of the can in dotted lines; Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 2 2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary group perspective view of the inventionon an enlarged scale.

l Referring nowto the accompanying drawing in detail,

lthe can opener is -designated generally by the reference numeral 10 and embodies in its construction an elongated, substantially cylindrical handle 11, one end portion of which may be increased in diameter to form a convenient hand grip 12, which is preferably formed with a ltnurled surface 13, as will be clearly apparent.

' The other end of the handle 11 is provided with 'a fork 14 including an upper furcation 14a and a lower furcation 14b. As is best shown in Figures 3 and 4, the'upper furcation 14a is provided Awith an aperture constituting a bearing 15', while the lower furcation 14b has a thickened Vouter end portion 14e provided vwith a cup-shaped socket v-16 which is coaxial with the aforementioned Vbearing 15. VAn upright pin 17 is pressed in a blind bore 18 f ormed in 'lower portion 21 of the spindle into a pair of transversely spaced side portions 21a. A

When the spindle 19 is mounted in the fork 14 of the handle 11, it Vextends slidably and rotatably through the bearing' 15 andthe split lower end of the spindle is rotatably and removably seated in the'aforementioned socket 16. ,This arrangement prevents the spindlefro'm sliding too far downwardly through the fork and assures that the split portion of the spindle is disposed between the furcations 14a and 14b. As is best shown in Figures v1 and 3, when the spindle is in position in the fork, the aforementioned pin 17 is disposed between the side portions 2.101` of the split lower portion of the spindle and thereby prevents the side portions from collapsing or being squeezed together. In addition, the pin 17 also serves to center the lower end portion of he spindle in the -socket The spindle 19 is provided at its upper end with a cross bar-22 having formed intermediate its ends an aperture 23 into which a diametrically reduced upper end portion 19a of the spin-dle is pressed in a relatively non-rotatable manner. A suitable finger knob 24 is rotatably mounted upon a screw 25 threaded into an aperture 26 formed in one end portion of the cross bar, whereby the spindle 19 may be conveniently rotated. The screw 25 is provided with a lock nut 27 engaging the underside of the cross bar, as shown.

Means are provided for releasably locking the spindle in the fork 14 of the handle, these means comprising a locking lever 28 which is pivotally mounted by .a suitable screw 29 on the upper surface of the furcation 14a, the Iscrew 29 extending through lan intermediate portion of the lever and the latter being provided at one end with an upwardly offset portion constituting a finger-piece 30. The other end port-ion of the lever 28 is also upwardly offset to provide a locking detent 31 which is engageable with an annular groove 32 formed in the body portion 20 of the spindle 19, when the lever2=8 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the handle 11. In this position, as is best shown in Figure 2, the lever 28 is prevented from rotating further counterclockwise by a downturn-ed lug 33 provided at one side of the lever adjacent the screw 29 and abutting the adjacent side of the upper furcation 14a. However, the lever 28 may be rotated in a clockwise direction so that the detent 31 is withdrawn from the groove 32, where- Yupon the entire spindle 19 may be withdrawn axially in an upward direction from the fork 14.

When the invention is placed in use, the spi dle 19 is assembled in the fork 14 and the lever 28 is moved to its locking position so as to retain the spindle in place. Thereupon, the free end of the tear strip 34 of a can 35 is inserted in the split portion of the spindle, that is, between the spindle portions 21a as indicated at 36 in Figure l. i t t The handle 11 is then rmly held by the hand grip 12 so that it is disposed substantially taugentially to the can, Vwith the fork 14 engaging the side of the can, as

shown in Figure 2, When the spindle 19 is rotated by the cross bar 22 and knob r24,'tl1e tear strip 34 will be wound around the split portion of the spindle between the furcations 14a, 14b.

When the tear strip is fully removed from the can upon completion of the opening operation, the wound strip may be removed from the spindle by simply moving the locking lever 28 to its unlocked position and withdrawing the spindle 19 upwardly from the fork'14.' VDuring this action the Wound tear strip will come in contact with the underside of the upper furcation 14a and will be forced thereby to slide otf the spindle, with the end .of the strip y.anchored in the split of the spindle sliding out through the open lower'end of the split. It will be apparent from the foregoing that in this manner the tear vstrip need not be touched by the fingers throughout the entire operati-on once the end of the strip is inserted in the spindle preparatory to winding. Thus, any possible injury by fingers coming in contact with the sharp edges of the strip is completely eliminated.

It is to be also noted that the taper of the split portion of the spindle will materially assist in withdrawal of the spindle from the wound strip, and once the strip is removed, the spindle may be again assembled in the fork of the handle in readiness for the next can opening operation.

Inasmuch 4as the free end of the tear strip usuaily lies flat against the side wall of the can, it is necessary to bend the same outwardly from the can wall before it can be inserted into the split spindle. This operation is customarily performed by grasping the end of the strip with finger nails and injury is often sustained. To eliminate this disadvantage, the outer end ofthe 4hand grip 12 is provided witha relatively at, longitudinally projecting prying tool 37 having a sharp outer edge 38y and an openended slot 39 intowhich the free end of the tear strip may be inserted for bending outwardly from the can wall preparatory to insertion thereof in the Spindle 19,

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications may be resorted to, such as may lie within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim yas new is:

1. An opener for cans having a perimetric tear strip, said opener comprising a handle provided with a fork, a split spindle rotatably and removably mounted in the fork, means for rotating said spindle, said spindle being adapted to have-the tear strip of a lcan wound thereon and to be axially withdrawn from the wound strip during removal of the spindle from said fork, means for locking the spindle in the fork, and means for preventing the split portion of the spindle from collapsing oomprising -a pin provided in said .fork and disposed in the split of the spindle when the latter is positioned in the fork.

2. An opener for cans having a perimetric tear strip, said opener comprising an elongated handle, a fork provided -at one end of said handle and having upper and lower furcations, the upper furcation of said fork being formed with an aperture constituting a bearing, the lower furcation .of said fork being provided with a socket ooaxial with said bearing,v aspindle removably. positioned in said fork and including an upper 'body portion disposed :above said upper furc'ation and a lower portion extending slidably and rotatably through said bearing, the lower end of the lower portion .of said spindle being rotatably and removably received in said socket, means at the upper end of t-he spindlek for rotating the same, the lower portion-of the spindle being provided with a transverse split open at its lower end and adapted to receive the tear strip of a can for winding the same around the portion of the spindle between the furcations of said` fork, said spindle being removable axially from the `forkv and from a strip wound thereon, and means for References Cited in the tile of this patent A UNITED STATES PATENTS :zy/23,046

Reeves Nov. 8, 1955 2,730,729 Coplen Ian. 17, 1956 2,732,093l Chincholl Jan. 2,4, 195,6 2,732,094 Gilmour J-an. 24, 1956 2,755,958

Y Eckstein July 24, 1956 

